the fall of Loki
by Darque Magus
Summary: Short of UNSC base, Loki, that finds problems with Covenant presence.


Pale moonlight spilled over the barren field and onto the painting the scene in a thin cobalt haze. UNSC marine camp Loki played an odd contrast to the natural colors as the slate grey encampment buzzed with action at the idea of an impending conflict with the Covenant forces that had been spotted on Zenith earlier in the month. The opposing forces seemed to play a game of hide and seek, littered with an occasional skirmish, but never a concrete assault. Most of the soldiers huddled in sheets and near portable heaters in order to maintain heat from the surrounding crisply frigid air. Seth sat near the glowing white heating coil and gazed up at the stars. His mind wandered as he attempted to decipher the plans of both of his commanding officers, and those of the Covenant warriors.

Seth had always felt at least a modicum of respect from the highly religious Covenant culture. He admired their warrior spirit and willingness to give their lives on the belief that they were rightful and righteous in this war. He remembered seeing the video of an elite warrior who had dropped his plasma rifle because of a wayward grenade blast. When confronted with the force of encroaching marines, the alien screamed a low roar and rushed into battle, killing two of his opponents before the hail of bullets sent him to the ground in a bubble of bright blood.

He let loose a low sigh and raised his hand to the sky. His porcelain skin became slightly tinged in blue in the gleam of the moonlight. Seth attempted to point out which of the lights in the deep blue and black sky were natural and which were wayward ships on their way back to bases or ports.

Seth saw his breath emanate from his lips and rapidly dissipate into the night sky as the cold took it. He shifted the but of his rifle as he leaned forward at a precarious new discovery in the sky. A new light blazed green in the deep sky and shot with incredible speed. His first thought was a falling star, but when he saw the light slowly tend to dip. He realized his mistake.

"COVER!" he yelled before slamming himself to the cold ground below and for an instant, the cold was gone. He looked up and saw the green blob of plasma ooze down and out sending a wave of heat and incinerating all that it touched. His chest began to sting from landing on his rifle the wrong way and his mind became disoriented, muffling the surrounding screams. As he began to gather his bearings once more, scrambled to get his feet under him and darted toward the edge of the camp with his rifle held in a death grip in his hands.

He followed the mob of running marines as chaos enveloped the camp. He ran as the cold air and smell of burning material created a mix that burned down into his lungs. Bright colors of blue, pink and green rained into the camp and burst into even more searing flames. A man with a marine running in front of Seth fell backwards as a soaring blue ball landed right on his helmet. The marine screamed in panic and attempted to remove the helmet when the plasma grenade erupted leaving a slight seared crater where he lay.

Seth's thoughts of remorse were cut short by a loud guttural grunt as a brute smashed through the gates of the Loki encampment wielding a large hammer. Behind him a host of brutes, elites, jackals and grunts swarmed through the whole with plasma weapons and needles pouring fire power into the camp. Seth stopped in his tracks as his hope fled from him. Survival was his only hope in this war and it even seemed like that had deserted him. A loud cry from behind him erupted as the remaining marines rallied together and opened fire at the intruders. The brute shuddered as bullets tore through his enormous fur covered frame. He roared with rage and his hammer fell from his hand. A fragmentation grenade landed in front of him and erupted with a slight flash sending the Brute and a few grunts and jackals to the ground below.

Seth regained his courage, and decided to die facing the encroaching darkness. He shouldered the standard issue rifle and squeezed the trigger in short bursts, clipping a pair of fleeing grunts causing them to lose fall and roll, plasma pistols firing green plasma bolts awkwardly in different directions before it went limp. Seth rolled behind a guard tower as a hail of plasma and lead flew back and forth behind him. He leaned out the corner and squeezed once more until the gun shook and the report blasted as he caught another grunt with fire. This one had just begun to attempt a plasma grenade toss. The bullet shredded through it's skull and the force caused him to roll backwards onto the primed plasma grenade. A pair of jackals that had seen their comrade fall, huddled behind their shields and prepared to fire needler rounds when the grenade exploded in a blue haze sending the trio flying in different directions.

He rolled back behind to catch a glimpse of a waver in the scenery as an elite in active camouflage charged into the battle and slammed a plasma sword through a marine. The Man yelled in pain as blade seared through flesh and bone and he collapsed in a crimson pool. The form turned and moved again and Seth opened fire at it to gather it's attention from it's task. A bullet caught the elite in the arm and his camouflage failed as his shields flared to greet the attack. It turned toward Seth and howled a warcry before charging at a new target. Seth glued his finger to the trigger as he spilled round after round into the rushing figure as it assaulted him. Seth side stepped just in time to feel a blaze of heat from the plasma sword. Seth jumped up and slammed the but of the rifle into the back of the elite's neck, a weak spot in its energy shield and it fell to the ground. He looked up to see a pair of rockets arced through the air and slammed into the a group of jackals and they spilled to the ground. Green plasma blobs continued to rain from the sky as the circling wraiths fired into the camp.

Seth spun and ran toward the gate but was stopped cold in his tracks as a pair of hulking blue figures lumbered into the whole. One of them charged up a fuel rod and sent a large bolt of plasma into a group of marines who were climbing into a warthog . The impact rolled the jeep and the fiery plasma flooded the jeep swarming it and burning the marines instantly. More rockets raced through the camp and slammed into the other hunter who sat crouched behind his shield, but to know avail. It simply waited till after the blast then charged into a group of nearby panicking marines slamming the shield into them and sending them flying. Seth looked up and fired, it was all the hope that he had left and he wasn't about to let it go. The bullets let an audible ping go ring out as they bounced off the blue armor of the gargantuan warriors.

He continued to squeeze and run toward more cover until he hear the click of an empty chamber inside his weapon. As he was reaching for his pistol, his blood ran cold as he became aware of the pulsing blue grenade attached to his leg. All thoughts were panic and the world slowed as the fire raced up his leg and around his body in a loud eruption. The world was once again disoriented and it took time for things to come back into focus. This time the first sensation was pain. The feeling of burning a finger on a stove amplified by hundreds of force took over his body. He looked up and saw the charging hunters and the host that followed them, and his world slowly faded to black.


End file.
